Psychopomps
Developed for Something Awful's GameDev VI Challenge, the retro metroidvania platformer Psychopomps puts you in the shoes of Anubis, who has overslept. In his absence, his fellow soul ushers have gone missing and evil spirits have grown powerful. Explore your environment and shoot down your enemies as you rescue your friends and right the matter of directing souls.
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It's a good story, thus far. I've gotten some lag, but it went away after a minute or two.
I am not sure I would label this a Metroidvania game. It's close, definitely more that than a standard platformer, but it was really more action-based than anything else. Those red birds really suck.
Still, for a game that was made so quickly, I'm very impressed. I can't wait for the sequel, which ideally would be fleshed out a lot more.
LWK is right about those damn birds. The first time you see them, you might as well get used to them because they will constantly harass you until the end of the game.
*Psychopimp*? It's in the second sentence of the analysis.
This game has the bounciest coins in video game history.
I agree this isn't really a Metroidvania. It guides you round the map in a pretty strict sequence; the bonus hearts are no more than the kind of bonuses you'd get in a Mario game. The one exception is "there's one piece of water you have to come back once you can pass water". Even the Valkyrie's ability is barely relevant.
But viewing it as a platformer rather than a Metroidvania, it's fairly fun as platformers go. I only died twice, both on the final boss. Quite impressive that it was put together in such a short time.
Interestingly, the health bar didn't show up for me. I was always guessing how much health I had left.
I have mixed feelings about this one. Part of the time I love it, but the platforms in some areas frustrate me REALLY quickly. The bosses weren't too hard. The hardest part of one boss fight was actually those red birds coming at you and not the boss itself. I like the graphics and the music fits well.
One major complaint is those tiny little coins. On one hand I love how there's actually a REASON why enemies drop coins and it's mythologically canon which I LOVE! But they're so damned small and they roll away so fast I just said screw it in several areas. Which sucks since getting hit lowers not just your health but your level too. I can see how it would get overpowered otherwise, but it really hurt during gameplay.
Not sure if this is a spoiler, but since I'm talking about an ability that surprised me when I got it, I'll put the tags up anyway.
As an aside I LOOOOOVE little jackal Anubis! It's SO CUTE!!
It's a Metroidvania, the reason it's so linear is because it's clearly influenced by Cave Story. Anyway, the final boss needs a closer save point.
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